As part of the District Attorney’s focus on fighting the spread of opioids in the County, the Westchester Intelligence Center (WIC) works with our local police departments and other law enforcement partners to track and trend data relating to suspected heroin and opioid overdoses in the county. This coordinated effort is called the Opioid Response Initiative (ORI).
The collected data is used, for example, to help identify suppliers who are providing heroin to dealers in multiple jurisdictions.
Overdoses by the numbers
In 2018, we received 213 overdose reports from law enforcement and 31 percent (68) were fatal overdoses. The total number of law enforcement reported overdoses was up from 183 in 2017 and the percentage (31 percent) of reported fatal overdoses (68) was up slightly from 30 percent (58) in 2017. 2016 was the first year ORI requested overdose reporting.
|
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
ORI Total |
|
Fatal Overdose |
40 |
58 |
68 |
166 |
|
Nonfatal Overdose |
27 |
125 |
143 |
295 |
|
Unknown |
|
|
2 |
2 |
|
Total |
67 |
183 |
213 |
463 |
It is important to note that the heroin and opioid crisis in the county is more significant than reflected in the ORI statistics inasmuch as they only include those reported by law enforcement. They do not, however, include when family or friends administer naloxone (or Narcan) to revive a victim or where victims are taken to the emergency rooms without law enforcement involvement.
Fentanyl on the rise
Concerns about fentanyl continue to increase. Fentanyl was present in 15 fatal overdoses reported in 2018 and only 3 the year before. In addition, a new concern identified this year is the presence of fentanyl found in cocaine leading to multiple overdoses.
